Video Picks

[asteg@k12.ucs.umass.edu (Albert Steg (Winsor))]

Having only seen the "Red Shoes" visual material only once, I'll leave these
tracks out of consideration.  Otherwise:

Favorite Videos:

1)  "Running Up That Hill" --This, way beyond any other of her performances
is the one time I think her dancing REALLY comes off as artistically
successful, with no reservations.  Most of the early stuff comes off as
(forgiveably) immature, naively conceived, though sometimes gracefull
executed.  The dance on this track complements the lyric and emotion of the
song without merely "aping" the words in a pantomime (her tendency toward
this in the earlier video makes my flesh crawl).
	But WHY, OH WHY does she have to include those really cheesy,
MTV-inspired, visually ugly "mask" sequences?  They're just embarrassing. 
Why not achieve the desired idea by getting a troop of women/men with
features (hair length, color, costume) that generally resemble the two
dancers?  Whenever I show the video to non-KB-fans I wish I could edit those
sequences out.

2)  "Rocket Man"  Consistent, playful, unpretentiopus video with a nice
"look."  Love Kate's little ukelele dance.  Conducting the stars a great
image.  Very cheerful, joyful.  

3) "The Sensual World."  Very pretty. Always a pleasure to watch her move,
and she does nothing but move in this track!  Fits the tone of the song
really well.

4) "Sat in Your Lap."  Mostly the closing sequence ("...the longest
journey..." is fabulous, nbut I like the cast of archetypal characters and
the movement.  After seeing the "rehearsal" sequence on the Lovehounds tape,
though, again I wish she could drop the MTV-generation trappings and do some
"straight" stage choreography more often.

5)  "This Woman's Work"  The "story" here is actually quite affecting!  I
like that she got such a "normal" looking guy for the part.  --Only mis-step
is a few overly melodramatic bits.  The "chained" sequence from dinner-table
back to hospital is terrifically inventive, seems to me.  Kate also is more
restrained in her expression of feeling, which I think works much much
better than those videos where she tries so hard to look "pained," or
whatever.  

On the whole, I wish she would let her music do more of the work for her on
these videos.  Let the SONG tell the story, convey the emotion.  Let the
image complement it.  And dance!

Albert
-- 
"When it was proclaimed that the Library contained all books,the
first impression was one of extravagant happiness. All men felt
themselves to be the masters of an intact and secret treasure.
                       -Jorge Luis Borges, "The Library of Babel"